US stocks rise, fall and repeat for a ... Wild ride to nowhere

Associated Press

NEW YORK

U.S. stocks careened between big gains and modest losses Tuesday before indexes ended the day mixed, the latest dizzying run for a market that’s been dominated by them in recent months.

A morning burst driven by hopes for U.S.-China trade talks gave way to losses triggered by falling bank stocks and the threat of a federal government shutdown. The result of Tuesday’s trip through the spin cycle, though, belies all the action. Indexes ended the day nearly where they began.

The S&P 500 dipped by 0.94 points, or less than 0.1 percent, to 2,636.78, while the Dow Jones industrial average fell 53.02, or 0.2 percent, to 24,370.24, and the Nasdaq composite rose 11.31, or 0.2 percent, to 7,031.83. Slightly more stocks fell on the New York Stock Exchange than rose.

It’s the latest in a series of sharp turns in direction for the market, which has lurched up and mostly down since late September as investors recalibrate how worried they are about the global trade war, rising interest rates and expectations for a slowing economy.

The whipsaw action is a nerve-wracking departure from much of the past decade, when investors enjoyed a largely calm, rising market, and analysts are debating how big a turning point it is for the longest bull market on record.

Jon Adams, senior investment strategist at BMO Global Asset Management, is more optimistic that stocks can keep rising. But he says investors should get used to this increase in volatility, which follows a calmer-than-usual run.

“We came from a very low-volatility, benign environment in 2017, and I think we’re getting to a more normal level of volatility, although a bit higher than historically,” he said. “I think investors need to brace themselves for a higher level of volatility.”